i can sort of see that. the zigzag guy might look a little younger. it's hard to tell. i was talking to jimmy earlier about his speech at the white house correspondence dinner, and i asked him about my "ridiculist" outburst. >> the man legalizing marijuana, you're accusing me of being high? >> i'm not accusing. i'm just trying to explain that skit. maybe you're secretly anderson stooper, anderson coop dog. i would love to believe you're high right now. >> did you speak before you went on the stage? >> not before. >> they said the white house correspondent dense dinner is nerd prom? is it stoner prom? he would get high fives if he were to show up. >> you can see your pick for number one tomorrow night. for f

"360." thanks for watching. "early start" begins right now. priority number one. after public outcry and political pressure, congress will vote today on a $9 billion hurricane sandy relief bill. relief many say is long overdue. turn for the worst, venezuelan officials admit hugo chavez is battling respiratory failure, now calling their leader's status severe. and trapped on thin ice. two teenagers stuck in the middle of a frozen life, clinging to a dead tree for hours. their dramatic rescue just ahead. wow. good morning. welcome to "early start." we're happy you're with us. i'm zoraida sambolin. >> i'm christine romans. it's 5:00 a.m. in the east. >> we begin this morning with a snowy mess in west texas. conditions are so bad that large

portions of interstate 10 between el paso and ft. stockton were closed overnight. do they really get a lot of snow? they've gotten record snow in that area. >> you're absolutely right. it was really the spaghetti bowl on i-10. the biggest problem where were the icy bridges and overpasses. that's what closed portions of the road. those roads have since been reopened. now, el paso picked up 2.9 inches. believe it or not, it's not out of the question to get snow in el paso. average snow for the year is 4.8. last year they got 3.1. el paso this year has had twice the amount of snow as chicago. so they've certainly gotten a lot, but it is definitely not out of the question or out of the ordinary, but they are waking up to a snowy scene. all the government buildings, schools all closed yesterday. half day today. take a look at some other areas around the region. in new mexico, picking up about 6.

there's el paso again. it was a record for the day. on the whole for the winter, they do pick up almost 5 inches. here's a look at the rain and snow. there's el paso. for the most part, they're waking up with flurries and cold temperatures. it is all pushing eastward. they have winter weather advisories. i'll tell you when they expire and what's in store. that's coming up. >> did you say more snow than chicago? >> two times as much. >> oh, my goodness. >> thus far this season. >> wow. that's quite a bit. thank you so much. >> sure. see you in a bit. the 113th congress already has a full plate, but the first course for the new house is sandy relief. the first two votes will be held today, authorizing billions of dollars for sandy victims. house speaker john boehner promised the votes after heavy criticism from democrats and republicans for delaying it. speaking of boehner, he got to keep his gavel, just barely. then he got emotional addressing the chamber. >> you come here humbled by the

opportunity to serve, if you've come here to be the determined voice of the people, if you've come here to carry the standard of leadership demanded not by our constituents but by the times, then you've come to the right place. >> cnn's athena jones is live in our washington bureau. good morning. john boehner was re-elected, but it wasn't easy, was it? >> about a dozen of his colleagues voted against him or for someone else like eric cantor or just said present. they abstained from voting. they said they wanted to put the speaker on notice. it isn't as though his leadership, him winning that election, was ever in doubt. let's listen to what one new congressman had to say to explain his vote. >> we are challenging leadership to let him know that we're going to hold him accountable just

like i get held accountable in my district. we want to let him know we're watching. we're willing to work with leadership, and i look forward to doing that. that's why i stuck with the republican party with mr. cantor. >> and so in the end, boehner got 220 out of the caucus, 234. it's a small percentage of people that didn't end up voting for him, but it still signals there could be a little dissension in the ranks, which is what we've been seeing already. >> dissension in the ranks. we have a debt ceiling to tackle and continuing budget resolution. a whole lot of other stuff to do here. democrats have gained members. republicans still control the house. what's your sense of how both sides will handle the next round of negotiations? >> well, fresh faces but not really fresh fights. we expect republicans to continue to talk about the need to rein in government spending. probably a little more of the same. he spoke a little about this just after winning that vote yesterday.

he talked about the debt ceiling. let's listen to that. >> the american dream is in peril so long at its name sake is weighed down by this anchor of debt. break its hold, and we begin to set our economy free. jobs will come home and confidence will come back. >> and so that's the republican argument here, spending cuts. the democrats, of course, are going to continue to argue for balance. president obama has said he's not going to have a debate with congress over raising the debt ceiling and making sure america can pay its bills, but as we saw the last time, that's not really up to the president. >> yeah, now, first thing's first, the house taking up the sandy aid bill today. how is this different than what they've considered before or haven't considered before? >> well, the thing is the senate already passed a bill. what the house is doing is breaking it into two pieces. after they reached that big deal to avert the fiscal cliff, postpone it, really, a lot of

house republicans, especially from new york and new jersey, were angry the speaker did not put on the floor a vote for sandy aid for these relief victims. they're going to vote later this morning on a bill. about $9 billion for the national flood insurance program. that's to be able to give money to that program so it doesn't run out. fema has said that money would run out starting next week at some point. the idea is to vote on that today and then on january 15th they'll vote on another $51 billion in general aid. so today's the first of two votes. >> all right. athena jones, a busy day for you and for all those new members today. thank you. also today, the last official act of the 2012 presidential election. the senate and house meet in joint session to count the electoral college votes. vice president joe biden will preside in a bit of political pageantry. there will be a senate procession carrying the ballots to the house chambers. venezuelan president hugo chavez is said to be having

trouble breathing as he battles a severe lung infection. the information minister described the complication as respiratory insufficiency. chavez has been in a cuban hospital since having cancer surgery more than three weeks ago. the information minister did not give details about the treatment or chavez's prognosis. the venezuelan leader has not been seen publicly since his surgery. american troops are in turkey this morning to help that country defend its borders against syria. the assad regime in syria has launched missiles as its civil war has intensified. secretary of state hillary clinton is raring to go. that's according to a state department spokesperson. clinton is expected to return to work next week after recovering from a string of medical setbacks, including that blood clot in her head. >> she's sounding terrific, upbeat, raring to go.

she's looking forward to getting back to the office. she is very much planning to do so next week, and we'll have further precise details about that as she continues to make progress. >> secretary clinton intends to testify on the deadly terrorist attack on the u.s. mission in benghazi. she says they're working out a date with the committee. clinton's replacement john kerry is expected to be nominated within days. a hearing confirmation should happen within two weeks. kerry has already started eed preparing for it. he met with the state department wednesday, visited with officials and picked up a huge pile of briefing materials. secretary clinton's departure isn't the only change coming. in fact, a big cabinet shake-up is coming. high-level vacancies need to be filled. secretary of defense, treasury

secretary, and a permanent cia director also need to be filled. former republican senator chuck hagel is still a contender for secretary of defense, despite criticism. president obama said as much on "meet the press." and there's this. quote, i understand his nomination is back on the table, and i believe very strongly he should be defense secretary. also, treasury secretary timothy geithner is planning to leave later this month, sometime around the inauguration. with heavy hearts, classes have resumed for students at sandy hook elementary school. classes were held not in the old building but in a school in nearby monroe, connecticut, which was made to look like their old school. students were anxious to resume their studies. >> they took the bus, so, you know, we had the normal routine of giving them breakfast and getting their backpacks packed.

then they went out -- we went out and waited for the bus. as soon as the bus came, didn't even look back. it was bye, guys. they waved and ran on to the bus. >> teachers and school administrators tried to make the transition back to school as normal as possible. former congresswoman gabrielle giffords, who almost two years ago to the day survived a mass shooting, is expected to visit newtown today. sources confirmed the giffords and her husband, former astronaut mark kelly, were planning to meet with families of the sandy hook massacre victims. after the shooting, kelly posted it was time for more than just regret and sorrow in response to the gun violence. still ahead, a dramatic story of survival. two arizona teens trapped on a frozen lake with nothing but a dead tree between them and the frigid water. [ fishing rod casting line, marching band playing ]

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it was all in the family as senators took the oath of office for the 113th congress. that is so cute. some senators such as kristen gillebrand of new york raised their hand in front of joe boidn with their children. >> she was in tears. >> i know, i know. your dad's a republican. so cute. today the house will address an aid package for those affected by superstorm sandy. it'll be considered $9 billion in immediate assistance for flood insurance for people along the northeast coast whose homes were damaged or destroyed by the fierce october storm. house speaker john boehner has been re-elected to that leadership role. he got emotional as he addressed the new 113th congress. >> if you come here -- humbled by the opportunity to serve, if

you've come here to be the determined voice of the people, if you've come here to carry the standard of leadership demanded not by our constituents but by the times, then you've come to the right place. >> so despite a rocky tenure, boehner received overwhelming support for re-election. >> in just over three hour, we'll get an important health check on the economy. the government will release the labor report for december. some economists expect a report of modest job growth. yesterday, the payroll firm abp reported the private sector added 215,000 in december. so some economists this morning telling me they think the risk is job support could be strong. did the cia mislead the writer and director of "zero dark thirty"? they've asked the cia chief for all the information the agency

gave the filmmakers. the committee recently put out a report that said the agency did not learn about the information by water boarding a terrorist. coast guard investigators from new orleans are headed to alaska to inspect a shell oil drilling barge that ran aground monday. the rig is upright, stable. there's no visible evidence of an oil spill, but no word yet when it could be moved. that barge has more than 150,000 gallons of diesel and oil on board. check this out. the only thing between two arizona teens and the bottom of an icy lake, that dead tree. they hung on to it for hours in 20-degree weather after the ice around them started cracking. later, the boys thanked the firefighters who got them out and promised not to explore anymore frozen lakes either. >> dear firefighters, thank you so much for helping me and my friends be able to get back safely to the ground.

we're very sorry about making you all come out and do this. we shouldn't have even walked on the ice in the first place. >> i regret my choices deeply. thank you for sacrificing so much to save us. >> do you love that or what? one of the boys used his cell phone to call for help. his mom says he can keep that, but the x box? grounded as punishment. >> they were smart to stay up there, to call on the phone and stay up there. that could have been disastrous. >> a firefighter in a protective suit crawled across the lake with a rope to reach the tree where the two teens were perched. if you look at the picture, there on the left-hand side, each of the teenagers lost one of their shoes. it was stuck in the ice. not a good idea. but they promised they'll never explore icy lakes again like that. >> but no x box, gentlemen. 17 minutes after the hour. time for your early reads, your local news making national headlines. a connecticut state worker placed on administrative leave for allegedly showing her husband the body of connecticut

shooter adam lanza. the employee, jean henry, works as a technician at the chief medical examiner's office. they viewed the body on the day of lanza's autopsy. and this from "the providence journal." rhode island lawmakers moving fast in their new legislative session to make same-sex marriage legal in the ocean state. identical bills were introduced yesterday in rhode island's house and senate defining marriage as the legally recognized union of two people. same-sex marriage is currently legal in nine states and washington, d.c. that includes all the other new england states. folks, for an expanded look at all our top stories, head to our blog, cnn.com/earlystart. you can also find us on facebook and twitter. we just told you the december jobs report is out in a few hours. could it be one that sends markets up this market and sends your prospects for getting a job

up? i've got your forecast coming up. aig? we said we were going to turn it around, and we did. woman: we're helping joplin, missouri, come back from a devastating tornado. man: and now we're helping the east coast recover from hurricane sandy. we're a leading global insurance company, based right here in america. we've repaid every dollar america lent us. everything, plus a profit of more than $22 billion. for the american people. thank you, america. helping people recover and rebuild -- that's what we do. now let's bring on tomorrow.

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good morning to you, washington, d.c. thank you for starting your day with us here at cnn on "early start." it's going to be 45 degrees for you today. nice and sunny. so everybody can get to work. we are minding your business. it is jobs day for christine. this is sheer happiness. she has a forecast for us for the big jobs report for december that is being released later this morning. >> i know. if you're a market person like me, you really love the jobs report. it gives you a real good look at the health of the market. economists surveyed by briefing.com think about 150,000 jobs were created in december. that's close to the average growth we saw for the year. the unemployment rate is expected to remain unchanged at 7.7%. market check right now, u.s. stock futures are basically near nothing this morning. they're not doing anything after stocks closed lower yesterday.

the dow, nasdaq, s&p 500 all lost ground after that big rally earlier in the week on the fiscal cliff deal. why? minutes from the federal reserve's last meeting showed some division inside the fed over its bond buying program. some saying it should be ending that program before the end of the year, and that's sooner than first thought. that's pushing markets down worldwide this morning. now, could we see a bond bubble burst this year? that's what 40% of investment and money managements surveyed by cnn think. they think interest rates will begin to rise this year. attention homeowners, interest rates will begin to rise this year. another 30% say that shift will start next year. both sooner than the fed's own projections. investors have been pouring money into treasuries. that's been pushing interest rates close to zero. it's been terrible for savers. last year investors added more than $90 billion to the bond market. they pulled $150 billion out of stocks. did you know the bond market is

worth about $31 trillion? much, much bigger than the stock market. you talk about the biggest market in the world, it's the bond market. it's not the stock market. so a lot of people watching that bond, quote, unquote, bubble, as some call it, and wonder if interest rates will rise this year. >> so in other words, it's a very long day for you. >> yes. >> and you're going to give us all the details. >> perfection translation. >> all right. thank you very much. 24 minutes past the hour. speaker john boehner calls it priority number one. the big vote scheduled for later today that almost didn't happen. that's coming up next. capital one venture miles for their annual football trip. that's double miles you can actually use. tragically, their buddy got sacked by blackouts. but it's our tradition! that's roughing the card holder. but with the capital one venture card you get double miles you can actually use. [ cheering ] any flight, anytime. the scoreboard doesn't lie. what's in your wallet? hut! i have me on my fantasy team.

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decision day. the old congress didn't do it, so the new congress will. the vote set today for a $9 billion hurricane sandy relief package. she's sounding terrific, upbeat, raring to go. >> raring to go. she's ready to work after a serious health scare, hillary clinton heading back to washington. and back to class. the children of sandy hook elementary tried to return to normalcy. >> as soon as the bus came, they didn't even look back. it was bye, guys, and they waved and ran on to the bus. >> some of the kids said they were happy to see all their classmates again. welcome back to "early start." we're happy you're with us. i'm zoraida sambolin. >> and i'm christine romans. the 113th congress getting back into action after being sworn in. john boehner narrowly held on to his leadership role. he offered advice to those, who like himself, returned for

another political go-round. >> for those of you who are returning, who have walked these aisles before, maybe it's time we get a little awe struck again. put simply, we're sent here not to be something but to do something. [ applause ] >> to do something. we know the 112th congress passed fewer laws than any other congress in 40 years. today the 113th house votes on the first part of a $60 billion relief package for sandy victims. boehner promised the vote after getting blasted for cancelling a vote just a week earlier. cnn's athena jones is live in our washington bureau. good morning. >> good morning. so they're going to vote today. of course, the senate has already approved this money. what the house is going to do is vote for it in two parts. the first part is for the national flood insurance program. it's actually about $9.7 billion

in borrowing authority. fema says next week they would run out of money to pay out these insurance claims for the victims of sandy. so this is certainly something that members of congress from new york and new jersey and the states affected by sandy want to see. it's expected to pass later this morning. >> tell me -- >> let's listen -- >> okay. go ahead. >> mayor mike bloomberg spoke about this last night. let's listen to that. >> we will get the relief. i'm convinced. boehner's promised to do it. i can't tell him how to run the house, and he's not trying to tell us how to run the city. he's got to decide when it makes some sense to bring it up. he's committed to get it done. we will get the money, and we'll use it intelligently and recover. >> so there you heard the mayor confident this is going to go through. that's certainly what's expected. >> also, when you look at this new house, when you literally look at this new house, more women, people of color, gays and lesbians in the new congress. these groups make up a majority

of the democratic caucus. is there a sense that the new demographics of the house will influence what happens with legislative issues like violence against women act, lgbt rights and the like? >> it certainly makes sense it would. you had a few new members talking about the diversity. minority leader nancy pelosi highlighting it. the most women ever. record number of latinos. this is certainly going to influence the kinds of things the members of congress push for. whether it's lgbt rights or violence against women or even issues like immigration. certainly one of the things a lot of people noted yesterday. >> i'm going to be honest, i can't remember a day when all these fresh faces coming in for the first time in a new job on a new congress when they've had such important, very near-term budget battles ahead of them. there are three big deadlines one after another that these new members and these new senators are really going to have to make some big choices. >> well, they certainly are. i mean, we've talked about how

this fiscal cliff deal, all it really did was push back the deadline for another two months. so many of the same issues still remain. many of the same fights. we expect to hear democrats speak more and more about balance, trying to make sure the deficit is cut, not on the backs of seniors and the middle class. we expect to hear the republicans say that really, what you need to help seniors in the middle class and the entire economy is to rein in spending. that's the big issue here. they believe the debt ceiling debate is going to be a time to really bring that up and try to get the spending cuts that they didn't get in this deal that was just passed a few days ago. >> republicans are telling me, hey, you know, so you got your higher taxes, mr. president, democrats. now it's about cutting spending. now it's time for the democrats to start cutting spending. so that'll be the big fight coming up. athena jones, thank you so much. ven dezuelan president hugo

chavez has been hospitalized with respiratory insufficiency. he's been in the hospital since having cancer surgery three weeks ago. details were not given about his prognosis. he hasn't been seen publicly since his surgery. a new role for american troops. they're in turkey this morning to help that country defend its border with syria. they'll attempt to shoot down any syrian ballistic missiles. the assad regime in syria has launched scud missiles near the border with turkey. so she was reportedly still running the state department from her hospital bed. now secretary of state hillary clinton is expected to officially return to work next week after recovering from a string of medical sedbactbacks, including that blood clot in her head. >> she's sounding terrific, upbeat, raring to go.

she's looking forward to getting back to the office. she is very much planning to do so next week, and we'll have further precise details about that as she continues to make progress. >> she also says secretary clinton intends to testify on the deadly terrorist attack on the u.s. mission in benghazi. clinton's return to work will probably be brief. her presumptive replacement john kerry is expected to be no, ma'am na-- nominated in days. he met with senior officials and picked up a, quote, huge pile of briefing materials. and secretary clinton's departure isn't the only change coming to president obama's cabinet. in fact, a big cabinet shake-up is coming in the second term. high-level vacancies need to be filled, not just the secretary of state job. secretary of defense, treasury secretary, and a permanent cia

director also need to be filled. former republican senator chuck hagel is still a contender for secretary of defense, despite criticism from pro-israel groups and gay groups over past comments. and there's this. quote, i understand his nomination is back on the table, and i believe very strongly he should be defense secretary. also, treasury secretary timothy geithner is planning to leave later this month sometime around the inauguration. meantime in connecticut, students from sandy hook elementary school returned to classes yesterday. they hit the books for the first time since the massacre three weeks ago in newtown. classes were held not in the old building but in a school in nearby monroe, connecticut, which was made to look like their old school, and students were anxious to return. >> they took the bus. so, you know, we had the normal routine of giving them breakfast and getting their backpacks

packed, and then they went out -- we went out and waited for the bus. as soon as the bus came, they didn't even look back. it was bye, guys, and they waved and ran on to the bus. >> tough moments for parents. teachers and school administrators tried to make the return to school as normal as possible for all of the children there. the kids' cubbies and desks were moved intact so they had the same stuff. former senator gabrielle giffords is expected to visit newtown today. giffords and her husband were planning to meet with families of the sandy hook massacre victi victims. after the shootings, kelly posted on his facebook page it was time for more than just regret and sorrow in response to gun violence. the pakistani education crusader shot in the head by the taliban is now out of a british hospital. she was released yesterday. the teen will continue undergoing rehabilitation in the u.k. google's ceo is visiting an

unlikely place, north korea, a place that keeps a welded lid on technology information. bill richardson has been there several times. it's being called a private humanitarian visit, and it's not on behalf of the obama administration. sources say governor richardson could try to negotiate the release of an american prisoner who was captured there last month. all right, the fiscal cliff, hill, slope, time bomb, whatever you want to call it, aren't you glad to be over the metaphor madness about what this thing is? >> kick the can down the road. >> it's just kicking the can down the road. >> kicking the can. >> we are done with kicking this can down the road. >> oh, yeah. the fiscal cliff turned into a can. too bad those metaphors aren't gone with the fiscal cliff. that's next. over the south pacific in 1943. i got mine in iraq, 2003. usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. because it offers a superior level of protection,

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it is 40 minutes past the hour. welcome back to "early start." do you drive to work?

consider this stunning cdc report as you hit morning rush hour. 1 in 24 drivers say they have nodded off or fallen asleep behind the wheel at least once in the last month. the cdc study says research models estimate 15 to 33% of fatal crashes may involve sleepy driving. that's as many as one out of three deadly crashes. also according to the cdc, deaths and injuries are more likely in crashes that involve drowsy driving to nondrowsy driving crashes. get your sleep, folks. >> absolutely. let's face it. the fiscal cliff, zoraida, sent us all over the edge, metaphorically speaking, from the moment the term fiscal cliff first took hold. there's been a verbal rampage from coast to coast. admit it, it bugged you too. the more wonky the budget fight, the more prolific and irritating the met to baphors to describe . >> we did fall off a cliff.

a metaphor cliff. >> fiscal cliff. >> the fiscal cliff. >> over the cliff. >> so-called fiscal cliff. >> or maybe not. ♪ the hills are alive >> cue julie andrews in "the sound of music." >> it's not a cliff. it's a slope. >> it's more of a slope. >> hill, cliff, slope, be honest. it felt more like this. >> this place is starting to have the feel of the movie "groundhog day." >> this is pitiful. >> at least the movie made you laugh. this was more like "the hurt locker." >> congress set this time bomb. now they're scrambling to defuse it. >> call it what you will, it became a bill. and new metaphor. >> kick the can down the road. >> that's just kicking the can down the road. >> kicking that can. >> kicking the can. >> we're done with kicking this can down the road. we grabbed that can, and that can is called spending cuts -- >> but hey, we're not blameless.

>> that's congressional malpractice. >> economic storm of our own making. >> we are in detox from our fiscal cliff addiction. >> but the masters reside in the halls of congress. >> like a bull in a china closet. >> like sales people who tell their customer they can have the $30,000 car. >> we should look at those who have lit the candle. >> like an airplane, did we climb over it? no. >> so now, can we please put the metaphors out to pasture? >> we soon face the valentine day cliff. >> what the president was saying is i'm not going to play chicken with the debt limit. >> i guess not. >> and so i promise you months of budget wars ahead and lots more metaphors, analogies, and similes to dry to describe what is undescribable in congress that's not working. >>ic it i think it's a lot of f when they use the metaphors. it hones in on the problem and makes you laugh a little.

>> that's what we're doing right now. >> thank you for that. 43 minutes past the hour. don't forget christine's show saturday morning at 9:30 eastern time here on cnn. i normally work out to your show. i highly recommend it. all right. everything is bigger in texas. that goes for the snowstorms too. parts of el paso shut down this morning. we're going do give you everything you need to know. that's next. when you have diabetes... your doctor will say get smart about your weight. that's why there's glucerna hunger smart shakes. they have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly to help minimize blood sugar spikes. [ male announcer ] glucerna hunger smart.

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the only thing between two arizona teens and the bottom of that icy lake was a dead tree. they hung on to it for four hours in 20-degree weather. later, the boys thanked the firefighters who got them out and promised not to explore anymore frozen lakes. >> dear firefighters, thank you so much for helping me and my friends be able to get back safely to the ground. we're very sorry about making you all come out and do this. we shouldn't have walked on the ice in the first place. >> i regret my choices deeply. thank you for sacrificing so much to save us. >> who do you think made them write that letter? >> a third boy, who had made it to the shore, called for help on his cell phone. they waited four hours up there. wow. >> very lucky guys. lots of folks are weighing in on this about ice safety. it's never really that thick, so be very, very careful and cautious. don't do this. >> there's an expression. you're on thin ice, young man. all right. winter has arrived in a big way in el paso, texas. blizzard conditions have descended into that area.

more than 200 miles of nearby interstate 10 have been closed due to all the heavy snow. so let's check in with alexandra steele in the weather center for today's forecast. good morning. >> hi, good morning to you guys. last year we had a lot of those stories ant people gbout people the ice, falling through because last year the ice was so warm and never really got thick, especially in the upper midwest. >> it's just not safe. don't do it. >> that's right. all right. so let's talk about el paso. a record snow for the day yesterday. kind of a white winter wonderland. 2.9 inches. i think there was a little bit of the novelty factor. almost a year ago to the day, it was last january 9th they had their last measurable snow of 0.1 inches. so 2.9 inches. the yearly average is 6.6. it's not out of the question that el paso sees snow. the all-time record, they had 22 inches of snow in one dumping in 1987. they've certainly had their share. but it really has been all year.

los alamos picked up 6 inches. we have certainly seen snow in the southeast. here's what's happening. there's that snow in el paso. right now, flurries falling. it's cold, it's kichilly. the biggest problem were the icy overpasses and bridges. that's where everyone has gotten into trouble on the roads. el paso closed down schools, businesses yesterday. today they're opening a little late to give some time for the roads. obviously, in el paso, they can't treat the roads. they don't have that kind of machinery down there. mostly it's rain. temperatures as you head farther westward and eastward are a little bit warmer. we're not seeing the snow. we're seeing rain for houston. there's that snow. the balance of it is done. rain for austin. again, it is all moving out. by noon today, we're going to see this system completely clear. but we do have still this winter watch. you can see where it is.

it's only until 8:00 this morning. so pretty much what's fallen is done. also, very cold. the cold air continues in the northeast. temperatures in the 20s. in the southeast as well. temperatures in the 20s and 30s. a very chilly start. temperatures for the most part, guys, a degree or two warmer than yesterday. and that will be the trend as we head toward next week. temperatures about ten degrees warmer than where they were this week. >> very nice. thank you, alexandra. >> sure. all right. 50 minutes past the hour. let's get you up to date on what's going on this morning. fire storm over the superstorm. today, congress will consider a smaller $9.7 billion aid bill for victims of sandy to get it to them asap. house speaker john boehner infuriated politicians from new jersey and new york when he canceled a vote on a $60 billion version. lawmakers will look at the bigger plan later this month. it was billed by some as the savior on detroit, now chevy volt sales are cranking up. sales of the electric car tripled in 2012. gm also became the first american carmaker to sell more

than 1 million vehicles with a 30 mile per gallon fuel rating. supporters of same-sex marriage in illinois hope to vote to approve it sooner. they failed to put it before a full vote on the floor. supporters hope it will pass in the next legislative session. busted new year's plans for frank ocean, a singer and song writer. police say ocean was pulled over for speeding and busted for marijuana possession on monday night before midnight, and the police could smell pot walking over to the car. ocean kind of commented about the alleged incident yesterday on twitter saying, hi, guys, i smoke pot. okay, guys, bye. >> profound. a court hearing today for gop senator mike crapo of idaho who was arrested outside of washington two days before christmas for alleged dui after reportedly running a red light and failing multiple sobriety tests. he says he doesn't drunk because

of his mormon fate. he's also one of the gang of eight senators who was supposed to save us from the fiscal cliff back in november. we have a packed hour ahead on "early start", including anger in aurora. an invite from a movie theater that was the scene of the massacre. a free movie at the grand reopening. we're going to talk to one of the families of the victims and heroes from that night. and if the sharks don't get you, the jelly fish might. a swimmer attempting a record swim in shark invested waters when so many have failed to finish before. we're going to talk to the australian distance swimmer in the next hour. first, the kiss everyone is talking about in the sports world broadcast on cable at a bowling alley. the kiss that made history. we'll explain. ord game. i think your friends will understand. oh no, it's actually my geico app...see? ...i just uh paid my bill. did you really? from the plane? yeah, i can manage my policy, get roadside assistance, pretty much access geico 24/7. sounds a little too good to be true sir.

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okay. welcome back. about 56 minutes after the hour. i'm christine romans along with zoraida, taking a look at the top cnn trends this morning. >> an early contender eer for of the year in the nba. that's j.r. smith with an insane spinning reverse alley-oop dunk. this is madison square garden. look at that. it brought the crowd at the garden to their feet. the knicks bench almost hit the ceiling. >> let's look in slow-mo. >> this is what i love. yep, the knicks beat the spurs 100-83. wish i would have been there. >> this is also a sportscenter moment, espn airing what may be the first shot of a gay athlete kissing his husband after a big win. history, really, here. and it was in bowling. scott norton kissing his husband after winning the 2012 pba chameleon championship in vegas.

the event was held in november, but it was only just aired this past weekend. espn spoke about the decision saying it was about capturing the emotion of the victory, as the network would with any bowler celebrating with his or her family. >> it was very emotional. all right. check out other top cnn trends at cnn.com/trends. the first day of the 113th congress is in the books, and the senate and the house are more diverse than ever. more women, more firsts for latinos, more iraq and afghanistan war vets. >> but the late night funny men say one thing that has yet to change is their "do nothing" reputation. >> john boehner re-elected speaker of the house, which is pretty amazing. a republican winning anything these days, that's amazing he would get elected. you see him lay into john boehner in the house of republicans for dragging that hurricane sandy relief bill? oh, my god. i'm not surprised. chris is from the jersey shore. he knows how to deal with people with spray-on tans.

christie also lashed out at members of congress. but they said, hey, we don't do anything for anybody. it's not just you. we're congress. we don't do anything. [ applause ] >> new jersey governor chris christie, he's furious because he can't get the hurricane sandy storm relief money, and he's -- chris christie, people who know him say he's not been this angry since olive garden cut off his bread sticks. furious. >> the senate swore in a record 20 female senators. [ cheers and applause ] good. the women said that they're very excited and look forward to proving that they can accomplish just as little as male senators. it's just so exciting. beautiful day. >> low blow there. the next hour of "early start" begins right now. priority number one.

after public outcry and political pressure, congress will vote today on a $9 billion hurricane sandy relief bill. relief money that's long overdue. turn for the worst. venezuelan officials admit hugo chavez is battling respiratory failure, calling his status severe. and trapped on thin ice. two teenagers trapped in the middle of a frozen lake clinging to a dead tree for hours. their dramatic rescue is ahead. good morning to you. welcome to "early start." thank you for being us with this morning. i'm zoraida sambolin. >> and i'm chris tee romtine ro. it's 6:00 a.m. in the east. we begin in west text. conditions are so bad, large portions of interstate 10 between el paso and ft. stockton were closed overnight. let's check in with alexandra steele in the weather center. 22.4 is that a record for them back

in 1987. >> absolutely it was a record. yesterday was a record with 2.9 inches of snow. that is a little bit of the novelty factor. waking up, kids didn't have school yesterday, late today. last time they had any measurable snow. a tenth of an inch, jast january 9th. it's been a year. snow is coming down and certainly a pretty picture, but the roads and the overpasses, we have on i-10 around that spaghetti bowl because of the problems on the roads, bridges and overpasses especially. all active-record for the day as well today. on the average, they see over 6 inches of snow. not outlandish, these types of numbers. los alamos, el paso. what's fallsen done. flakes around this morning. a get he cpretty much complete.

the storm pushes east. where does it go? i have that and full details on the forecast. zoraida. >> thank you, alexandra. >> red, set, vote. >> the 113th congress jumps right in with the house ready to approve the first installment of a $60 billion relief package for victims of superstorm sandy. john boehner promised the vote after canceling one earlier that outraged people in the expected state. boehner got to keep his fwavle as being re-elected as house speaker. he got emotional. >> you come here humbled by the opportunity to serve. you come here to be the determined voice of the people. if you have come here to carry the standard of leadership, demanded not by our constituents but of the times, then have you come to the right place. >> cnn's athena jones live in

the washington bureau. it wasn't easy, was it? >> good morning. no, you had several defections yesterday. it was really interested to watch that vote. people who just stayed silent when their name was called. people who voted for people like majority leader eric cantor. in the end, he was able to win. let's listen to what one new congressman from florida, ted yoho had to say about the defections. >> we are challenging leadership to let them know we will hold them accountable, just like i get held accountable in my district. we're willing to work with leadership, i look forward to doing that, and that's why i stuck with the republican party, with mr. cantor. >> so ultimately, speaker boehner was able to get 220 votes out of a caucus of 234. in the end, a small defection. it's been a rocky road for

speaker bainer in the last congress when it comes to corralling his caucus, this seems to indicate that kind of thing could continue. >> we have congress sworn in and they have to tackle the debt ceiling and sequester. they have a lot of work to do. democrats still control the house. what's your sense of how they will handle the next round of negotiations? >> i think we'll see more of the same. you have a few fresh faces, balance of power remains the same. and republicans really want to see spending cuts. they did not get spending cuts out of the most recent deal. able to push off the fiscal cliff for another two months, so they will really focus on that. speaker boehner spoke about that yesterday, just after winning that gavel. let's listen to that. >> the american dream is in peril, so long as is name sake is weighed down by this anchor of debt. break its hold, we begin to set our economy free.

job will come home, and confidence will come back. >> we heard from the speaker and we also heard from mitch mcconnell, making the point about how spending cuts are going to be the main focus. president obama indicated he doesn't want to have another big argument with congress over raising the debt ceiling. over making sure america can pay its bills this is something that's up to congress and we certainly expect to see the other fight. >> let's talk about the fight over the sandy aid bill. it seems as though this is moving forward. what they are voting on today is a different version. spin it to me. >> the senate passed the larger measure. the house will break it up to two pieces. today, they will vote just on the part for the national flood insurance program. over $9 billion. $9. 7 billion in borrowing authority. fema said the national flood insurance program will run out of money to pay claims starting sometime next week. very close. the victims of superstorm sandy

want to be able to see that money come in. congress has -- the house wants to be voting later this morning. sometime late morning, we expect that to pass and later this month on january 15th this he will take up more general aid to those victims. >> thank you. >> thanks. five minutes past the hour. the last official act of the 2012 election, the senate and house meet to count the electoral college votes. joe biden will preside there. in a bit of political pageantry, there will be a senate procession carrying ballots to the senate chamber. hugo chavez is said to have trouble breathing as he battles a respiratory failure. it is described as respiratory inefficiency. he had cancer surgery more than three weeks ago. there were no details about the treatment or prognosis. the venezuelan leader has not

been seen publicly since the surgery. american troops in turkey this morning. flew in to help that country defend its border with syria. they will offer patriot missile batteries in an attempt to shoot down ballistic missiles. assad regime has launched scud missiles toward turkey. malal aala yousefzi is out the problem. she is the teen shot in the head by the taliban. secretary of state hillary clinton is raring to go acco according to a state department spokesperson. she is expected to return to work next week after a string of medical setbacks, including that blood clot in her head. >> sounds terrific, upbeat, raring to go. looking forward to getting back to the office. she is very much planning to do

so next week and will have further precise details about that as she conditions to make progress. >> her spokesperson says she intend to testify on the deadly attack against benghazi. a big cabinet shakeup is ahead. and president obama's second term. high-level vacancies that need to be filled soon, including the secretary of state post. secretary of defense, secretary of treasury, permanent cia director, all need to be filled. chuck hagel is still a contender for defense, despite criticism from pro israel groups and gay groups over past comments. president obama said as much on "meet the press." this from max cleland. i understand his nomination is back on the table and i believe very strongly he should be defense secretary. also, treasury secretary tim geithner planning to leave later this month, sometime around the inauguration. seven minutes past the hour. with heavy little hearts and

under very heavy guard, classes have resumed for students at sandy hook elementary school. hit the books for the first time since the massacre three times. they were held in a school in nearby connecticut made to look like their old school. students were anxious to resume study. >> we took the bus. had the normal routine, getting them breakfast, getting backpacks packed and then we went out and waited for the bus. as soon as the bus came, they didn't look back. bye, guys. waved and ran on the bus. >> everybody worked so hard to make this as normal as possible for the kids. teachers and school administrators tried to make it as normal as possible. kids cubbies and desks moved intact. tried to recreate some of the rooms for them as well. just such an amazing effort. i wish them all well. >> there is word that former

congresswoman gaby gifford may visit the newtown families today. the lieutenant governor said the visit is planned, not confirmed. giffords barely survived an assassination attempt two years ago. and outrage from some of the families of victims killed in the aurora movie theater massacre. up next, why some are calling the invite disgusting, even offensive. i will speak to one of the family members. sfx- "sounds of african drum and flute" look who's back. again? it's embarrassing it's embarrassing! we can see you carl. we can totally see you. come on you're better than this...all that prowling around. yeah, you're the king of the jungle. have you thought about going vegan carl?

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welcome back. 12 minutes past the hour. a story we first told you about yesterday. five months after the tragic shooting massacre at a movie theater in colorado, some families are outraged over a plan to reopen the theater. 12 people died, 58 injured, when a gunman opened fire in the theater in aurora, colorado. the theater is set to reopen on two weeks. they invited families to a special remembrance family. john hickenlooper and steve hogan are both expected to attend. but several family members are furious that such an event is happening in the first place.

jessica watts is one of the family members, a cousin of jonathan blunt. a victim of the shooting who used his body to shield his girlfriend from the bullets. died doing that. thank you for being with us this morning. we really appreciate it. and we're very sorry for your loss as well. as i understand it, cinemark sent out an invitation to a victims assistance group which was forwarded to some of the families. you didn't receive an invitation, but you read it. what did you feel when you read the invitation? can you tell us what it said? thank you for having me this morning. when we received this invitation from cova which is the victims assistance group here in colorado, it was an invitation, calling it a night of remembrance, where the victims would be remembered and also going to do a movie screening at the theater itself for the

families. >> and how did that make you feel when you read that? >> it was very painful to read, because there are 12 people and one of those being my cousin, who absolutely paid the final ticket price with their lives and being anywhere near that theater is hard for victims. it was almost unspeakable, that they would give us this invitation, like it was a hollywood premiere. >> jessica you took action along with eight other families who wrote a family to cinemark. it says our family members will never be on this earth with us again and a movie ticket and some token words for people who didn't care enough to reach out to us nor respond when we reached out to them to talk is appalling. this was signed by 15 members of 8 victims' families. we want to add, we tried to

reach out to cinemark. they declined to comment. what can cinemark do in order to change the way that you feel about this? i know that you also mentioned that they never reached out to you directly. what can they do? >> mainly the big problem with cinemark, they have never reached out to victims to offer sympathies, condolences or support. and we have never had communication with them. but they went ahead and gave us this invitation. and to be honest, it was one of the worst things that they could have done, and so that was our decision to write that letter so that we could boycott, not only the aurora cinemark, but also cinemarks. nationwide. >> there are people that don't agree with you. not all family members, in fact, agree with you.

your cousin saved his girlfriend in the movie theater and plans on going. everybody is entitled to their own opinion. i can see how it would be bothersome. but i think the theater is still standing, it kind of proves how strong we are as a community and it's going to be a memorial to all of the victims that passed. and i don't know about you, but i'm not going to let the bad guy win. what do you think about her response? > to each their own. we're all in different states of grieving. and definitely i know of several family members who plan on attending. but those of us who have written that letter and signed it, are choosing not to attend because of the way that we've been treated. >> you say to each their own, and i suppose when i read this, i think this is their way of healing. this is their way of coping. and i suppose that your way of

coping, it's like that. if cinemark reached out and offered an apology, would that help you heal? >> it would definitely be a step in the right direction. >> all right. you know the suspect is back in court this coming monday. do you plan on attending? >> yes. i have attended all of the court hearings previous to this up and coming week, and i plan to attend the full week of the preliminary trial. >> jessica watts, thank you. i know jonathan had a birthday coming up and right before he died, you were to celebrate your birthday for him. we're terribly sorry for your loss and we pray for your healing as well. >> thank you so much. 17 minutes past the hour. today, the house will address an aid package for those affected by superstorm sandy and consider a 9.7 billion package for immediate assistance in flood insurance on people's whose

storms were destroyed by the first october storm. house speaker john boehner has been re-elected to that post. despite a rocky tenure, boehner received overwhelming support for re-election from house republicans. in two hours, an important health check on the economy. the labor report for december. some economists expect a report of modest jobs growth. yesterday, the fay roll firm adp gave its own gauge of how things did in december. 215,000 jobs were created. coast guard investigators from new orleans are headed to alaska to check a shell drilling barge that ran aground in kodiak. the rig is upright, it is stable and no visible evidence of a spill. no word when it can be moved. the barge has more than 150,000 gallons of diesel and oil on board. the only thing between two arizona teens and the bottom of this icy lake was this dead

tree. they held on for four hours in 20-degree weather after the ice around them started cracking. later, the boys thanked firefighter who's got them out and promised not to explore anymore frozen lakes. >> dear firefighters thank you for help meg and my friends getting safely back to the ground. we're sorry about making you come out and do this. we shouldn't have walked out on the ice to the first place. >> thank you for saving us. i regret my choices. >> a third boy made it to shore and called for help. >> you can imagine getting that phone call. >> they are where? doing what? huh? >> once you save them, i'm going to kill them. >> we mentioned earlier, a couple of hours away from the monthly jobs report. one company that wants to add a bunch of new jobs right now. who is hiring? [ woman ] uh-oh.

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welcome back to "early start." possible sign fourn around for air travel. delta air lines looking to hire as many as 400 flight attendants and looking for bilingual applicants. they do not looking to increase its flying level, but looking abroad to increase business. mind your business. this is jobs day, what christine does. gets very excited. a forecast about the big jobs report happening today. >> nothing more exciting than tables and tables and tables of labor department data. economists pretick s predict 15

created in december. the jobless rate expected to remain unchanged at 7.7%. we'll know for sure at 8:30. this can often move the markets. market check, u.s. stock futures doing nothing as they are waiting for that report. and, of course, markets closed slower yesterday. dow, nasdaq, s & p lost ground following the big rally earlier in the week. the big rally because of the fiscal cliff conclusions, and the setback because minutes from the federal reserve's last meeting showed division inside the fed over its bond buying program. some saying it should end before the end of the year. sooner than first thought. that's pushing markets down worldwide this morning. and drilling contractor transocean smacked with a 1.4 billion fine from the justice department over the gulf oil spill. transocean leased the oil rig and provided the crew from that spilled, the worst maritime oil spill in u.s. history.

bp which leased the rig from transocean, agreed to pay 4.5 million fine last year. the government squeezing fines and penalties out of pa major player out of the horrific oil spill in the gulf. one thing you need to know about your money today. >> i don't want to know. >> interest rates can only go up from here today. and people are thinkingist time for them to gun. it means borrowing costs rise for cars, houses, credit cards, but it also means savers -- savers, if interest rates start to rise, savers will be able to get a little something for their mone money. that's the curse of the low interest rates. people who depend on cds are getting nothing. interest rates rising helps savers. >> yeah, but if you miss out on the opportunity too bad. speaker john boehner call it priority number one. the big vote scheduled for later

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decision day. the old congress didn't do it. so the new congress will. the vote set today for a $9 billion hurricane sandy relief package. talk about a new year's resolution. meet the woman who says she's ready to become the first person ever to swim cage frlsuless fro to florida. you know there are sharks in the water and jellyfish. >> and it's cold. why scientists believe this black beauty is one of a kind. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. >> it's friday! i'm christine romans. all smiles on capitol hill. members old and new sworn in. now comes the hard part for the 113th congress. not picking up where the 112th left off. big battles ahead over the debt limit and spending, to name two.

first things first, speaker john boehner narrowly kept his leadership role. he offered advice to those who like himself returned for another political go round. >> for those of you returning who have walked these aisles before. maybe it's time we get a little awe struck again. put simply, we're sent here not to be something, but to do something. >> today the house votes on the first part of a relief package for hurricane sandy. athena jones live in washington. good morning to you. officials from sandy-affected areas were critical of boehner. how are they reacting to the upcoming vote today? >> good morning. they were as you said very critical. we heard from new jersey governor chris christie, being

very angry at speaker boehner. mayor mike bloomberg of new york spoke about this last night. let's listen to that. >> we will get the relief. i'm convinced. he has promised to do it. i am not telling him how to run the house, and he's not telling us how to run the city. he is committed to getting done. we will get the money and we will use it intelligently and recover. >> and so mayor bloomberg is confident that this is going to be passed and most people are expecting it to be passed later on this morning. what happened, the senate voted for this relief, and then boehner put it off. now the house will vote it in two parts, the first part, for the national flood insurance program. 9.7 billion in new barrowi borr authority. that program was going to run out of money next week, which is right around the corner. the house would vote on that later on this morning. >> a lot of work to do. i want to talk about something else, big news. on the front page of "the

washington post." 113th congress displays its diversity. nancy pelosi right here, and an iraq war vet, kenny duckworth from illinois. more women, people of color, gaze and lesbians. these people make up a majority of the democratic congress. will new demographics affect what happens with llaytive issues, violence against women and lgbt rights? >> there is a sense that diversity will be good for congress. it's good congress will be more reflective of america. most women in this new congress, more latinos than ever as well as all of the firsts you mentioned among others. let's listen to what nancy pelosi had to say about all of the diversity yesterday. >> it's very exciting, because the american people say have you a seat at the table. and the fact that not only is our caucus a majority of women

and minorities and lgbt community folks, it's also our chairmen are over 50% women and minorities, so not only people have a seat at the table, they have a seat at the head of the table. >> there you heard her put it, a seat at the head of the table. and nancy pelosi says women are more likely to be consensus builders. she's clearly a little biased here as a woman herself. but there is thinking that there will be a change. and the high number of latinos, there could be more emphasis on immigration reform. >> we are hoping violence against women act in particular. athena jones live for us. appreciate it. >> like the first day of school on capitol hill as the new members of the 113th congress were sworn in. >> you will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which you are about to enter, so help you god. >> i will.

correspond congr . >> congratulations. >> ron desantis of florida, sixth congressional district. one of a dozen of newly elected members of the house who served in iraq or afghanistan. a j.a.g. officer in the u.s. navy. he certainly comes with a stellar resume. congressman desantis joins us on his first day of the job. >> thank you. good morning. >> this is what you said about the fiscal cliff deal that just passed. that foreshadowing a bunch of stuff. any agreement that raises taxes and allows federal spending to continue ballooning out of control is a bad deal. bad for families, bad for business. you wouldn't have voted for that fiscal cliff deal i assume? >> no, i wouldn't. a lot of people aren't talking about a couple of things. one, a big payroll tax increase

would hit millions of americans. >> would you have extended the payroll tax holiday? >> this is one of the principles i want to bring to bear. having temporary tax relief is a mistake. tax relief should be permanent. i would want to revisit how we handle the payroll taxes. i want to promote upward mobility in the country and i think we can raise revenue in a way that's more economically beneficial and that's part of the silver lining for me, even though i didn't like the deal going forward, we do have permanent tax rates so we can look forward to doing some pro-growth tax reform. but i'm not going to be somebody who is really going to want to entertain a temporary tax holiday or tax cut, because it ends up creating these manufactured prices, and hurts the certainty that i think individuals and businesses need

to get our economy going. >>ith gone. it was meant to be temporary. it's gone. very hard to do temporary things in tax codes, because it becomes baseline assumptions like the bush tax cuts which were meant to have a certain life span and became the baseline assumption for people. you have criticized -- and by the way, we have talked a lot about the payroll tax holiday. talked about it all day for three days in a row. a lot of people are aware that paychecks will get smaller. you say there should be more focus on spending cuts. clearly with the tax part of the equation out of the way. spending cuts is where it will be. let's talk about what you would cut. what kind of spending would you cut specifically. would you cut, for example, unemployment benefits for your stitt wents? is that something that is run away federal spending? >> the problem with unemployment benefits, they have been going on so long, so when i look at it, one of two things are true. either obama's policies have not been successful, because if they were, you wouldn't need this many people to be on unemployment insurance for this period of time, or the other thing that could be true, is

that because we've extended it for so long, we've actually provided an incentive for people to remain on that, rather than take a job which may not be ideal for them, but would be something where they can earn a paycheck. i think we need to, of course, look at unemployment insurance and try to figure out why it's been that we had to extend it so long. >> you think it's time to end the unemployment extension after extension after extension. would you end unemployment checks, the extended checks for your constituents? >> i think 99 weeks is certainly a limit. i wouldn't want to go past that. but i want to look at and ask ourselves why we're in a situation where we continue to need more and more unemployment. what is the economy not generating or is the program structured in a way that is leading people to stay on it? i would want to look at that and try to figure out where we go from there. >> let's talk about defense spending. that's another place as many say is ripe for cutting. others say no, no, no, no.

they are doing efficiencies there, it would be disastrous to go too deep to the defense budget. are you willing to make cuts in defense if you are talking about runaway federal spend. >> i don't think the choices are no defense at all or do drastic defense cuts there are things in the pentagon you probably could deal with. i'm somebody who is a reaganite, i believe defense spending equates to capability. i don't want to shirk on weapon's capability or shirk on compensation for people putting their life on the line, but i have embraced what senator coburn wants to do, audit the pentagon. u.s. a very big bureaucracy. ask people who served on active duty in iraq, afghanistan, or on the home front. it's a big bureaucracy and a lot of times our military is successful in spite of the bureaucracy, but not because of it. i wouldn't say you can't look at defense, but if you think we'll

balance the budget just by cutting defense, one, i don't think you can get there, but, two, we will be inviting danger from abroad, rather than protecting the people if we do that. >> you think we'll have a big fight over entitlements, social security, medicare? that will be coming up with the debt ceiling? part of the debt ceiling negotiations? >> i think we need to restructure some of the entitlements, get in the way that they are sustainable over the long term. whether it's viable, i'm not sure. i don't sense a lot of desire of any friends on the other side of the aisle to work on that we should look at entitlements, restructure medicare, deliver services at a lower cost to the taxpayer. that makes sense. >> i think we'll look at everything and fight over everything and sir, you are about no get a real first-hand look at how the sausage is made.

come back and tell us what you think about it after you've been in there a bit. congressman ron desantis, freshman member of the 113th congress, best of luck to you, sir. >> thank you. 40 minutes past the hour. other skrz tried it and failed. but my next guest says she is ready to make history by swimming 100 miles in shark-infested waters. she's cageless. so what's her strategy? we'll ask her, coming up next. ♪ [ male announcer ] jill and her mouth have lived a great life.

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a french movie star is now a russian citizen, depardieu accepted russian citizenship after president putin granted it by decree. he fled france over protest of a tax hike on the very richest. best known in the u.s. for starring in the 1990 film "green card," where his character marries a woman to get citizenship in the united states. >> something that's been done once before. an epic journey.

talking about an open swim from hava havana, cuba, to key west, florida. through 100 miles of shark-invested waters, teeming with jellyfish as well and done not much more than a wet suit. the one time it was done, it was done in a cage shark. have you seen us document the attempts by diana nyad, tried four times but never made it. meet the next young woman to give it a go. 27-year-old marathon swimmer from australia, chloe mccardell. joins us from melbourne, australia evening your time. >> good morning your time. thank you for having me on. >> we're very excited to have you. so why are you doing this? that has to be our first question here. >> that is such a good question. this swim is the most epic

marathon swim in the whole entire world. the most epic swim that i could imagine for myself, that diana could inspire. i have done the english channel twice, and i will take on this huge challenge. a world record in itself, but i want to take on this amazing challenge to raise awareness and funds for cancer research. which is really close to my heart. >> why is it so close to your heart? my mom fought breast cancer when i was a teenager. moving through that experience with my family, my mom, i know how much support that people fighting cancer need. the support for their families and themselves when they are going through that, but also in research in general so we can hopefully prevent this from happening, all different sorts of cancers all around the world.

>> that's fantastic that are you doing that. a lot of eyes will be watching you. there is no cage here. in shark-infested waters, jellyfish, so many challenges you face. in your opinion, what's the greatest challenge? >> as you said there, are so many. the shark fish, the jellyfish, and even the current which is so strong and unpredictable. the hardest thing for me will be the jelly fish. diana nyad's valiant attempts has come up against some serious jellyfish. we're researching new ways to combat these little guys. >> you mentioned diana nyad. i want to play something about what she said her greatest challenge was. >> none of that stuff matters, but, soledad, the damn jellyfish

are frightening. i got the world's expert in box jellyfish, dr. angel yanagihara from hawaii. i created a suit they cannot sting through, i made a panty hose hood, swam with booties, but at night, just the lips were exposed, because, my god, i have to breathe. a tiny -- i'm telling you, no thinner than a grand of this hair, one hair, that jellyfish came whisping across my lips, took me into searing pain, started to take my heartbea down, and i couldn't breathe. >> none of that sounds good. and you see that she had all of those experts on board, she prepared a lot. how will you combat that? that's your greatest concern. >> yeah, definitely.

she spent a lot of time and research working with the best people in the field. my husband and i spearheaded this, and the crew we have around us, we have done research as well and there are one or two of new sorts of techniques which we're learning about as we speak. and we'll implement them during the swim. not quite ready to go into details yesterday. but we'll have interesting facts to share in the next month or two. >> we'll be watching and rooting for you. the last thing i want to say, we've run out of time. the website, you're asking for volunteers to help you out to join your crew. is that -- is that accurate? >> well, yes. because from australia, it would be really hard to bring people over. so we're putting the call out to those experienced paddlers and kayakers in the key west region that might want to join us.

we would love to hear from you via website. >> i am not experienced in those things, but i would love to volunteer. what an experience. >> oh, wow. she is brave and excited. best of luck to her. everything is bigger in texas. that goes for snowstorms as well. parts of el paso shut down. we'll show that you, next.

it was all in the family as senators took oath of office. come take a look at this. some senators such as kristen gillibrand held her children. >> that's a working mommy. >> and senator cruz' daughter, overwhelmed by the pomp and circumstance. >> she kind of cried for a second, and joe biden was like i know, i'm a democratic. i get it, don't cry. >> sweet. >> john berman, with a look at what's on "starting point." >> joe biden said really crazy stuff when it happens.

a new day with a new congress. first task will be voting on the $9 billion superstorm sandy relief. we'll speak with tulsi gabbard and steve la tourette, been saying a lot of things, not so happy with the old congress. and two hours away with the big december jobs report. where will the unemployment rate land? kristen romans jumping out of her seat. >> five years' pro visions, i can't wait. >> couldn't sleep last night, so excited. they love their meat. we're talking about the guys from the show "meat eaters." the early word is they are bringing squirrel snack for us. >> are you going to have it? >> i will eat anything. >> i'm going to get my camera out. >> thank you. 53 minutes past the hour.

heavy snow blanketing west texas. looks so pretty. especially around el paso. conditions got so intense that large portions of interstate 10 between el paso and ft. stockton to the east closed overnight. let's check in with alexandra steele in the weather center in atlanta for us. >> good morning, zoraida. christine has the jobs report and i have the el paso snow. we're both happy women this morning. hi, everyone. waking up looking at the franklin mountains in el paso. no school -- delayed for school in el paso. record snow, 2.9. not as outlandish as you think it is. they see 6.6 inches per year. a little more of novelty factor. last january 9th el paso had any snow at all. only .1 inch. it's nice. the spaghetti bowl and i-10, a lot of problems in west texas. a lot of that are bridges and overpasses that created such a

problem. there is a look, el paso, fete de complis. pushing eastward and the advisories end at 8:00 this morning. snow is done, area of low pressure moved east and the story in the midwest and northeast will be gusty wind today. >> alexandra, thank you. take a look at this very important rock. a meteorite from mars, being studied at the university of new mexico. the scientist leading the study says a lot of information about the red planet is locked inside of that. at some point it fell to earth, landing in the sahara desert in north africa. best advice is coming up. danica patrick gives us her advice. check out my new treadmill app.

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